Soil seed bank

The first scientific paper on the subject was published in 1882 and reported on the occurrence of seeds at different soil depths.

Henry David Thoreau wrote that the contemporary popular belief explaining the succession of a logged forest, specifically to trees of a dissimilar species to the trees cut down, was that seeds either spontaneously generated in the soil, or sprouted after lying dormant for centuries.

[13][14] In endangered habitats, such as mudflats, rare and critically endangered species may be present in high densities, the composition of the seed bank is often more stable than the vegetation to environmental changes[7][7],[15] Soil seed banks are a crucial part of the rapid re-vegetation of sites disturbed by wildfire, catastrophic weather, agricultural operations, and timber harvesting, a natural process known as secondary succession.

[16] Forest ecosystems and wetlands contain a number of specialized plant species forming persistent soil seed banks.

[17] A species forming no soil seed bank at all (except the dry season between ripening and the first autumnal rains) is Agrostemma githago (Corncockle), which was formerly a widespread cereal weed.

Every five years, a bottle from every species was retrieved and germinated on a tray of sterilized soil which was kept in a growth chamber.

Species of Striga (witchweed) are known to leave some of the highest seed densities in the soil compared to other plant genera; this is a major factor that aids their invasive potential.

[30] Before the advent of herbicides, a good example of a persistent seed bank species was Papaver rhoeas, sometimes so abundant in agricultural fields in Europe that it could be mistaken for a crop.